Archive for the Series Category


Yuri Network News – February 6, 2010

February 6th, 2010

Sailor Moon is all the rage again. I ain’t complaining.

The news on the grapevine is that Toei is gearing up for a Sailor Moon re-release in Italy, after some sporadic releases in Japan. Simon Jones of Icarus calmly points out that, hey, Kodansha, that would be a pretty good core release here in North America, hint, hint. Since Kodansha USA’s intentions here are obscure at best, we may or may not ever get any kind of response from them. He very sensibly points out that a reboot of the anime which was only ever brought over in bowdlerized form and the issuance of the new anniversary edition of the manga might be cool for those of us who obsess about Senshi – among which I count myself. Would I buy an anniversary reissue of the manga (which I already own all of, in two languages) translated by someone with a clue or a reboot of the anime with, say, not a third-generation Japanese sound track? Yes. Yes I would. I have fought with myself multiple times about getting the anniversary edition of the manga in Japanese, despite the fact that I have it all in Japanese already. Sometimes I pick up Volume 8 and stare at it longingly, then think, well, I can’t *just* get Uranus, I need Neptune too, then think, heck I’ll jut get all the Outers, then start thinking about buying all of the volumes and then I put Volume 8 down again and walk away. It’s really quite sad. lol

Nonetheless, I support and pray for a re-release of the manga and the anime and will be very glad to introduce a whole new generation of potential Yuri fans to the wonderfulness that is Tenoh Haruka and Kaiou Michiru.

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Snatches of Yuri

A while back, I noted that Kishi Torajiro had a new, potentially Yuri, story called i.d.. I want you to know that I have read it, and will not be reviewing it because it was vile. It’s one of those series that shows repeated extreme violence against helpless women under the guise of watching them endure and triumph, but the focus is actually on the repeated humiliation, abuse, gang rape and defeat of their spirit. It was revolting to me in every conceivable way. I will not judge you if you purchase this manga, but I wanted to let you know what it was like, before you did.

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Yuri Games

It’s pretty common knowledge that Final Fantasy XIII (link to PS3 version) has a Yuri couple, so here’s a request for a review by someone who has played it and is interested in letting us know about them. In case you didn’t know, FFXIII has two female characters that are meant to be perceived as a couple.

This spring, you can look for salacious screencaps from a new adult Yuri game, Subarashiki Hibi. To me, it looks like all the others; characters drawn to look unappealingly young, ridiculously heavy shading in the art, storyline that is laughably thin. I’m sure people will love it and will clamor for an anime. :-)

Speaking of which – here’s an anime series I’m looking for a reviewer for – So-Ra-No-Wo-To. Any takers?

By the author of the EbiMayo series in Tsubomi, comes a mostly Yuri collection, Sex Nanka Kyomi nai. This is another Ikki comic, so who knows, maybe one day you’ll see it in SigIkki. Hah.

And one more review request for good measure. If you are buying and reading Eru Eru Sisters, (not just reading scans), I’d love for your to review the series for us. I have no intention of reading it no matter how many Yuri lists it’s on. :-)

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Yuri Manga

YNN Correspondent, Okazu Hero and beloved Yuricon staffer Bruce P mentioned that the story in Yuri Hime S that I liked so much, “Fufu,” was in fact written by an assistant of Fujieda Miyabi’s, which explains why I liked everything about it. :)

Tanaka Rin-sensei who apparently does a lot of shoujo and josei romance is going to included in the next Yuri Hime Wildrose, which is out this month. She has done some Yuri parody work, but I’m most interested because she seems to have primarily drawn romance for a female audience as a professional. I wonder if she’ll bring a different feel to the book. I wasn’t going to buy Volume 5 of Wildrose, but now I will.

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Yuri Drama CD

There are plans for a Drama CD for Morinaga Milk’s Girl Friends. No date as of yet, but I’m actually holding out hope for an anime for this series. It’s got all the elements to make it successuful, since it’s a “shoujo for guys” kind of story.

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That’s a wrap for this week.

Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge.

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!





Gunjo Preorder (Japanese edition)

February 2nd, 2010

As I mentioned on Saturday, I will be placing a bulk order for the first volume of Gunjo, so should you be uncomfortable ordering from a Japanese website on your own, you can order through me.

Here’s what I’ve come up with on costs for the Gunjo order. These have been rounded off for convenience to my brain.

Book – $10
Shipping From Japan – $5
Domestic Shipping – $5 (Priority mail)
International Shipping (this includes Hawaii, Alaska, Canada and Mexico, I’m afraid) – $15 (Priority)
Handling – $5

So, Domestic US (48 contiguous states) – $25
International – $35

I’ve added in a “Handling” charge to cover Paypal fees and packaging materials, which, sadly, do cost something. That makes the International cost $35, which is edging very close to you getting it on your own. But I don’t want to say US only, because I know that Europe always gets left out of the equation.

For what it’s worth, I am *only* shipping priority, because trust me, the alternative means your book goes for a week or two long vacation to a warehouse somewhere where it will be lost, probably forever.

So, I’ve listed the links below. Domestic will be $25/book, International will be $35/book and I apologize, but it’s still cheaper than $50/book, which is roughly what it would be if you ordered by yourself through Amazon JP with nothing else in the order.

Orders must be placed through Paypal, no money orders, because I don’t want to lose my mind doing this. :-)

The book won’t ship until it’s released, so let’s say, Pre-orders will be open until February 20 and then I close them.

Domestic Order – https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=QPE7LL64CHXT4

International – https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=YGJJXZ8WTV5B6

I hope this makes life easier, not harder, for you all. :-)





Yuri Network News – January 30, 2010

January 30th, 2010

This week was the last week of having 4 jobs; as of next week, I’ll be back to my usual 3 at a time. Thank you all for your patience with gaps in reviews. I’m *still* open to guest reviews, so if you have something you’d really like to review here, email me and we can talk!

Before we start, I have a Mystery to Solve. Someone sent me an absolutely *beautiful* doujinshi from Romania. There was no name, no note, no nothing. Can someone claim credit and let me know who to thank?

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Yuri Manga

The pre-order for the first volume of Gunjo is up on Amazon JP. It’s got a February 25 release date.

Ordering from Amazon JP isn’t as hard as it appears, since all the buttons are the same size, color and shape on every Amazon, and the check-out can be displayed in English. However, I know that not everyone is comfortable with the idea of ordering from there. So, to make things easier, I’ll be coordinating a bulk order. I’ll let you know when it’s all set up, but here’s the plan: I’ll set up a link to take orders through Paypal. You’ll have to pay shipping from Japan, the cost of the book, the fees on Paypal and shipping to you. However, you’ll be paying a smaller shipping cost than if you placed the order on your own. You don’t *have* to order this way, I just want to make it easier for you if you want it. :-)

YNN correspondent Sean G. did some great investigative reporting this week, when he contacted Digital Manga Publishing and asked whether they had abandoned the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS manga. Their response was ‘We still have it. Lyrical Nanoha Strikers will come out this year. Vol. 1 is in September.’ As Sean said, “there you go.”

Octave Voume 4 is up for preorder, and the latest Comic Yuri Hime magazine has already hit the shelves.

The big news is that Morinaga Milk will be doing a color illustration for Yuri Hime. This has excited some hope that she – and therefore Nana and Hitomi’s story – will be returning to the magazine. File that under conjecture and rumor. All it really means is that she’s doing a color illustration.

CANAAN Volume 1 is now available. So far, it pretty closely mirrors the anime, which is both good, and bad.

It’s the Year of Nanoha! The movie is out, with a Number #1 song for Mizuki Nana, and the first volume of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid has hit the stands. The story is excellent, the execution gives me nightmares.

For those of us who prefer the adult characters, the first volume of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Force is also available.

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Yuri Artist Interview

Speaking of Yuri manga artist Morinaga Milk (Girl Friends), she answers 10 questions on the Comic High website. These cover important issues like her unusual pen name and what items she keeps around when she’s writing, etc.

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Other News

It’s my pleasure to announce the winner of “Get this thing out of my house! Contest” from last week – Satoshi Miwa. Miwa, can you DM me on Twitter or email me with your address and I’ll get this fine example of unrestrained crap out to you as fast as I can manage? :-)

It’s all the rage to give away manga these days among the manga bloggers – I may make this a regular feature!

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That’s a wrap for this week.

Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge.

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!





Yuri Anime: El Cazador de la Bruja, Volume 2 Disk 4 (English)

January 29th, 2010

El Cazador de la Bruja, Volume 1El Cazador de la Bruja is magic.

In the final few episodes, we learn the significance behind the name and the agenda of Project Leviathan, come to understand and perhaps sympathize with LA more than we could have expected. We learn to like “Blue Eyes” and feel affection for Ricardo and his foster daughter, Lirio.

We watch Ellis change and watch her change Nadie.

Above all things, we watch them come to understand that they are far more than traveling companions to one another.

The climax of the show is ridiculously trite and overdone and sappy, and we don’t care. Why don’t we care? “When you have that sparkle in your eyes, that’s the Nadie I love.”

Ellis FTW.(I mean that in the old-school biker usage, not the new fan usage.)

El Cazador de la Bruja FTW. (This time I mean it in the fan way.)

What a great series. Now I finally have all three of Bee Train’s “Girls with guns on the run” series. Time for a mega-marathon. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 8
Service – 2

Overall – 9

One more time with feeling – thanks to Okazu Superhero Amanda M. for sponsoring today’s review!





Maria-sama ga Miteru Christmas Album

January 26th, 2010

It’s a day early, but today’s post is a welcome guest review from Okazu Superhero, Guest Reviewer, supporter, fan and friend, Eric P. The occasion for the Guest Review today is a good one – I will be giving a keynote speech tonight at the ArtsCAP’s Electronic Media Bootcamp in Asbury Park, NJ. Because my schedule will remain a tad overbusy until the end of this week, I make no promises about reviews for a few days. In the meantime, please offer a warm welcome once again to Eric!

Christmas Album: La Vierge Marie Vous Regarde

A holiday-themed review would be considered overdue at this point, but — better later than never, perhaps? Anyway, one may assume taking the Catholic schoolgirls of Maria Sama ga Miteru and putting them together to do a Christmas album would make an obvious and fitting combination. By and large, one would be correct.

I never saw any point in collecting the MariMite Drama CD’s because I can’t fully appreciate what I don’t understand listening to, unless it’s J-Pop or J-Rock. So when I heard of there was a MariMite Christmas album, I figured I should at least get this. I went in half-expecting to hear holiday music backed up with broken English (every time I hear or say those two words I can’t help but think of the song). It turns out that their English is actually pretty good, but if you’re really listening then of course some of the pronunciations may be off. But that’s really a nitpick that can’t be helped, and the seiyuu still sing with their own natural grace, so that it is easy to overlook.

Their voices go so well together, almost like an angelic chorus, with a melodic flow. It only makes sense that most of their songs are classic Christmas songs like “Joy to the World”, “O Come All Ye Faithful”, “Silent Night” and “Angels We Have Heard on High”. “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” with its danceable beat would almost feel out of place on this list, but it seems meant to be the one fun break before the seiyuu return to the softer tunes. The only other non-religious song is “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” serving as the album’s appropriate sign-off.

Since the credits on the album are in Japanese, and it’s been a while since I watched the series, I can’t really tell which specific characters sing which songs. I would imagine that Yumi and Sachiko lead most of them, or perhaps it could be Shimako since that’s her picture on the cover. Inside is a booklet containing the lyrics along with a square-card version of the cover image. This card offers us in plain English best wishes throughout the coming year, making it seem like Shimako is praying as much for us.

The only downside is you can get so into the music but it’s over before you know it. The whole thing is literally just 20 minutes long, with 6 songs. They really could have added more to make a fuller-length album so it wouldn’t have to end so soon, but it’s still a very fine CD made up of lovely music nonetheless. You may not be a fan of Christmas songs, and I for one have been fed up with them over the years, but it helps to be even a casual MariMite fan to appreciate this ensemble’s rendition. Some time by the next holiday season, assuming this CD stays in print that long, feel free to add this to your collection (you too, Erica!). And here’s to looking forward to Right Stuf’s future release of the 4th season of Maria Watches Over Us.

Ratings:

Overall-9 (minus 1 point just for the short length)

Thanks Eric! I’ll be passing on this, because there is *more* than enough Christmas music in my house and as a non-celebrant, I feel happier avoiding it as much as possible, sung by popular voice actresses or not. ;-)